I think they are just doing it since they have never went up to 3 before, just trying to keep them on their toes I guess. I am not a big fan of tribal shakeups either, someone always gets screwed. Good episode though, Jeff is my favorite so far, he has flipped the tribe in back-to-back weeks.

I haven't watched yet, hopefully this weekend, but here is the 5 Q's with Jeff Probst:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Something very interesting is happening this season, which we haven’t seen for a while: People on both tribes (Spencer, Shirin, Stephen — basically anyone whose name starts with the letter S) have ended up on the outs (or out completely) for playing TOO fast. Instead of the old school folks getting overwhelmed by the speed of the game, they’re ostracizing those who try to play at a new school pace. Did that surprise you?JEFF PROBST: I’ve been sitting here at my computer, staring at the screen trying to decide if I agree with your observation. I definitely see what you are saying, but I’m wondering if it’s even a bit more layered. It seems that it might be a combination of playing hard and fast along with whether or not you are fitting in. Joe and Savage and Jeremy are playing as fast as anybody. They made a very quick agreement to stay together — but because they all agree, it’s okay.

Fishbach is not “in” with that group, so he’s trying to find another way to play. So Fishbach looking for an idol is not a bad idea for a guy who is concerned he isn’t fitting in. Vytas may have “tried” too hard, but not sure he was playing any faster than anybody else as evidenced by Wentworth finding the clue to the idol and then brazenly retrieving it in the middle of the challenge. So I’m suggesting that maybe it’s too early to draw a conclusion as the game is still finding its feet.

You mentioned the eerie parallel to Shirin being shunned by her tribe last season and having only Mike to offer a shoulder to lean on, and then Abi this time being in a situation where only Terry came down to check on her after a big fight, even though Shirin was there while all this was going down. Is this move by Terry the perfect example of how social and strategic games can work hand in hand? Yes! And I was really impressed by Terry. I know from my own personal journey and therapy and attempts at growth that it’s much easier to say you are going to change than it is to actually change. To change a habit, you have to really pay attention and look for opportunities to put that change into motion. That’s what Terry did — and he did it with one of the least likely people: Abi. He saw a person in need, that was his first call to action. Then he realized, “I can show kindness to this person AND improve my social game which will hopefully improve the strategic part of my game.” Win, win, win. This is a great example of what most excites me about this season: watching people who endeavor to change attempt to do it in the most extreme situation. I was so happy to hear so many positive comments about the premiere and I think this is why — this season is truly unique and it’s easy and fun to get invested in the individual stories.

Six days into the game, did you and all the other producers look at each and other and ask yourselves, “Why did we wait 29 seasons to bring Jeff Varner back?” This guy is pure gold. Ha! We’ve been trying to get Varner back for years. Every time a new casting theme came up he would be one of the first names on the list. We have always loved Varner. It just never worked out. I will say that the Varner who showed up was not the Varner I expected. I remembered Jeff as a young, cocky, charming villain who I would have been delighted seeing win the game. The guy who showed up for Second Chance is a much more mature, slightly annoyed, but still incredibly charming guy with just enough life experience and humility to be an equally satisfying winner. He’s a great storyteller with a unique observation on the world.

BONUS QUESTION! You and I went through this challenge course and picked out a place to hide the immunity idol, yet Bayon did not find their clue so it never came into play. Still, how do you feel about our hiding place on to top of the third A-frame? Yes, we wanted to do that with you and for you … because for years you have been such a big proponent of the idea of hiding an idol within a challenge. Once we decided to do it, we all agreed we had to involve you in the creative. So we let you have a big say in where we would hide it for that challenge, which, had it happened, would have been the top of the final A-frame. We had a GREAT camera shot lined up too! I was really hoping someone would find the note so you could see it play out — but they didn’t, so we didn’t get to give you the entire thank-you gift.

But one of the benefits of it not working out is further evidence that we don’t control the game. We rehearsed it as though they would find it and when they didn’t, we pulled it out. That’s how it goes. But we do appreciate your genuine love of Survivor and your support over the years. And you can absolutely add “Challenge Co-Producer” to your resume!Okay, time to tease us up. You all have contracted down in tribes before, but I don’t recall ever expanding. What can you tell us about next week’s shift from two tribes to three? When you bring back returning players, it’s extremely tough to ever surprise them. So we had a few ideas in our hopper and we hoped that at least a couple of them would surprise at least a couple of players. I wouldn’t be surprised if several players considered the idea of a two-to-three tribe switch — but you never know for sure, and when it finally hits, it’s pretty powerful. The obvious impact is that it completely changes the game, and for some I will tease that it will be a MAJOR setback.

I love these moments because it pushes people to find a new way. How do I get back in the game? Tribe switches are one of the few parts of the game you can’t control. It’s the “luck” portion of the game. By simply drawing the right — or wrong — buff your game moves in one direction or the other. That’s why there is no “fool proof” strategy. Survivor requires you to constantly adapt — 24 hours a day for 39 straight days. Exhausting … and life-changing. See ya next week!

ok saw the show and I liked the turn of events.Glad they sent the rabbit killer home ! even abi is happy now lol.

On the challenge though, it seemed to me the green one was correct, so I went back and did screencaps,and had to look awhile to see where it might be wrong , and found one fairly sure spot and one othe possible error.Then I looked at the purple one and it just seems to me that the green one was easier to get wrong than the purpleone, so that gives the edge to the ones doing that one.

So far a good game and now they are going to and I think it is too early for that.certain people

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Jeff, you know how much I love the fact that you all decided to hide idols in challenges this season. This was your first time trying it out, so tell me about the execution and Kelley’s risky decision to go back and get it. JEFF PROBST: You have been suggesting to us for years to do this and it was always just a matter of it feeling like it was the right time. Creatively, this is definitely one of those “big risk” moves for us as a show because if it fails and the players can’t pull it off, then we may not have any idols in the season. The first big step was figuring out how to execute. We decided to let them find a note that at first they would think was an idol — so we get the high … followed by an immediate low when they learn it’s not the idol … followed by another high when they realize it will lead them TO the idol … followed by a major twist: You have to be daring enough to grab the idol in front of everybody while in the middle of an immunity challenge. Huge stakes!

It was an exciting day at the challenge because we had a dedicated camera following Wentworth with only one job: If she goes for it, we have to get the shot of her getting the idol. We would not get a second chance. The only other question was: could she pull it off? I don’t think you could have asked for more tension as she waited and debated — looking for that one moment when she could go back to grab it. I was really proud of her as a player because THAT is how you have to play this game in Survivor: Second Chance. It also let me breathe a sigh of relief that this idea was going to work.

You know I also love it when you guys insert choices into things. Here the tribes had to decide right off the bat how much to stock up on supplies before heading out on a raft to get the bag of rice on the other boat. Any chances we will have more choices down the line? And did you anticipate people like Wiglesworth, Woo, and Joe swimming for it? Choice is one of the cornerstones of our creative because it forces a decision and that often leads to conflicting points of views before, during, and after the decision has been made. So yes, fans and players should always expect choices! We were so unprepared for someone swimming from the beginning that we really didn’t even have the proper coverage set up to capture it. We had several boats in the water with camera and sound operators, and when Wiglesworth starting swimming from the beginning we were shocked! Our director, David Dryden, and his team really had to scramble to make up a new plan — live — in the ocean. A massive task but they pulled it off.

Those are the days when you come home and you are truly grateful to work on Survivor. For all the planning we do, the real truth is that ultimately we turn the show over to the players and they do whatever they want. That’s their only job: play! Our job is to capture their story. That marooning was a very exciting beginning. I have to also add that the opening several minutes where they are traveling through Angkor Wat was in the planning stages for months. Literally, months. I want our fans to know that these things aren’t made up the day before. We are often planning them before we even know who will be on the show. We had our “A” team producing this open and wow did it work. One of my favorites of all time. When the four boats, with Survivors, pulled up to me for the official opening it was a really powerful moment. I knew what they had been through and it had all worked!

You didn’t end up showing it in the episode because you can’t fit everything in, but there was some last minute scrambling that went on at Tribal Council when Jeff Varner asked Kelly Wentworth and Peih-Gee in front of everybody to confirm to him which way they were leaning before the voting started. Did you notice a difference in the energy or tone of TC by bringing them straight to Tribal from the challenge instead of letting them go back to camp and strategize? There is a definite slow burn shift in how the game is played this season. You may not notice it out of the gate, but it slowly begins to shift and in a way that does impact the game in a very significant way. I’ll be curious how it plays with the fans. I am also curious if it carries on in future seasons or was simply a byproduct of having true “second chance” players who came in with a very different motivation. And glad you mentioned that we can’t show everything. It’s one of the only drags of the show, there simply is not enough time. There wouldn’t be enough time if CBS gave us two hours for every episode. But it’s a good problem to have — too much great material!

These contestants really put themselves out there by publicly campaigning for votes. Does that make being the first one eliminated that much harder? Vytas even said that he would have rather not gotten voted in than be the first one out. That’s a great question. I’m sorry to hear Vytas feels that way; it’s not the way I would look at it. I’d be so proud to be voted in by the fans. It’s pretty amazing that our fans chose this entire cast. Not one single bit of influence by any of the crew or CBS. Zero. I mean zero. I had no idea until one hour into the live show (when we stopped the voting) who the final cast was going to be. So yes, someone is going to be first off. It’s meaningless. First off or 19th off — there is only one winner. You must play this game in order to have a chance to win and if you do play, like Vytas did, then you are always at risk of being blindsided. That’s it. You can’t second-guess your second chance.

Okay, sir. Off to a great start. Tease us up for next week and this season in general. Next week you really start to see the emotion come to the surface. There’s a truly romantic story of love, there’s a moment of empathy and comfort from someone you wouldn’t expect, there’s another exciting challenge that results in more tears at the thought of Tribal Council. That enough?

As for the season in general, I will not predict if people will like it or not — as they always let me know! But I will say this: In our 31 seasons, we’ve never had a group that came into the game with such devotion to the game. They were in it from the moment their journey through Angkor Wat started. They were playing hard the minute they dove off the boat. They pulled off massive blindsides and shifted the strategy of the game. If you told me I could bring all 20 back again and do it again I would say yes. I absolutely enjoyed every single person and I thank them for what they gave. Survivor is an ass-kicking adventure and it is not for the faint of heart or those who are more comfortable on the couch. This group has waited a long time for this opportunity and I think you’ll agree that they deliver.